Russia launched a probe into the Financial Times and the New York Times after the newspapers said local authorities could be vastly under reporting deaths from the coronavirus in the country, according to AFP.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova demanded that the FT and the NYT retract the “disinformation”, adding that formal letters had been sent to the newspapers' editors-in-chief.

“We see — and there is more and more evidence — that unfortunately certain forces in the West are seeking to use the current crisis in the world to discredit government efforts in a number of states, to destabilise the situation,” Zakharova told reporters.